A day in the life of an Artist
I get a lot of questions about what my days look like being an artist, so I thought it would be fun to recap what a typical day looks like for me. Everyday varies slightly depending on deadlines and personal things that need to get done (think grocery shopping, laundry etc). You know, really fun and glamrous things.
7:15-7:30 am - I usually wake up around the same time my husband gets up to go to work. I forced myself to start this habit because I am 100% not a morning person and I needed to make myself get out of bed at a consistent time.
7:30-8:30 am - I make my coffee and some breakfast then sit down to do my quiet time/journaling to get my head in the right place before the day starts.
8:30-9:00 am - I schedule social media posts and try to reply back to any messages and comments from the day/night before. I also look at my to-do list for the day and try to prioritize the top 3 things that I need to get completed for that day.
9:00- 9:30 am - This is typically the time I try to get a few home to-do things started before I start working. This usually means finishing up the dishes or getting a load of laundry started.
9:30- 11:00 am - This is the time I tackle the biggest projects I have for any deadlines. Typically that means completing any orders that need to get shipped out or prepping and painting new work or commission pieces.
11:00- 11:30 am - I'll answer emails or take care of behind the scenes blog stuff & usually make more coffee!
11:30- 12:30pm - I try to wrap up whatever I'm currently working on and then I force myself to take a 30 minute break to eat lunch. This sometimes means watching a Netflix show while I'm eating, reading a book or calling a friend to catch up really quick. Then back to work.
12:30-2:00pm - This is a hard time of day for me creatively (which is something I've learned over time) so I have learned to do something during this time that I don't have to use much mental energy. Sometimes that means finishing up house hold tasks that need to get done or grocery shopping.
Other times this looks like editing photos or if the lighting is good I'll try to do a little photoshoot for some stock photos of my art... like the ones in this post :)
2:00- 2:30pm - I try to prep our dinner. I've learned that right after this time I start to get creative and I don't want to interrupt it if I don't have to.
2:30- 4:00pm - This is usually when things start to get messy. I think it has to do with the lighting in our house at that time of day, it hits the "studio" area of our living room perfectly and it just makes me want to paint. Lately this looks like spreading out a few canvases, setting the music loud and getting to work for an upcoming art install and a few commission paintings I am working on.
4:00- 6:00pm - I temporarily clean up my art mess (realistically I just clean a pathway so that Marcus can walk through the living room when he gets home haha). We usually eat dinner and watch a show then I get back to work.
6:00-9:00pm - this is the time that I usually finish unfinished tasks that need to get completed. That could look like writing blog posts, editing photos, painting, prepping orders to ship out the next day, answering end of day emails or try to get a workout in.
9:00- 11:00pm - I try to prep a "to-do" list for the following day and then I usually watch a show or read a book to help me wind down.
11:00 - Midnight - bedtime!
Hope this answers some questions and gives you a peek into what a typical day looks like for me. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and let me know! I'll do my best to answer them.